D'Angelo Russell ran headfirst into Luka's hip pic.twitter.com/JeXMx4B5Pa
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) December 29, 2019
So much goodwill and hope lay motionless on the floor, and a dream game for the Warriors had become a nightmare.
In a Warriors season that has been all but wiped out by injury, it appeared for a long while that D’Angelo Russell was the latest victim.
Halfway through Saturday’s third quarter against the Mavericks, Russell, one of the few remaining stand-outs on the team, sprinted after a loose ball, his dash ending in a collision with Luka Doncic’s hip.
Russell crumpled off the Dallas star and fell to the ground, where he lay without movement for several tense minutes. A stretcher was brought out as both teams looked on concerned, Doncic especially.
The stretcher was not used. After a long break, Russell got to his feet and walked slowly toward to the tunnel with team trainers. Fortunately, he returned to the team bench after a few minutes.
Russell had been the best player on the court, scoring 32 of 12-of-18 shooting (and 8-of-12 from 3) in his 25 minutes.
